I had a cousin called John who was a bit of a rake. If he was not genially propping up the bar at the rugby club, he was engaged in a similar exercise at the golf club. He drank too much, smoked incessantly and generally ended up gambling late at night. Even though he...

While still at school I went on a moral leadership course run by a group of priests. Before splitting us up into groups the priest in charge explained that Jesus was the embodiment of all true virtue. If we wished to imitate him we must first study him and his...

Of the whole gamut of myths, legends and fairy tales that have been told in human history, not even the most outrageous or outlandish can compare with the message that we can so easily take for granted. It is the message first delivered to poor shepherds as they...

I am as delighted as all other orthodox Catholics that the Spanish Bishops have spoken out against all forms of prayer involving Eastern meditation techniques and the mindfulness movement in their document, My Soul Thirsts for God, for the Living God: A Doctrinal...

If I had not been working for several organisations in the USA for the past six years I might have thought Archbishop Vigano’s letters referred to in the Catholic media, as way over the top, but they are not. The central point that he was making about a...

This is the first year that I did not have a Christmas Card from Sr Wendy Beckett. Instead I had a little note from Sr Stephanie, the Prioress of the Carmelite monastery at Quidenham to say that her health was failing, but that she was happy and at peace. She died on...